Boeing and Indian Institutes of Technology Conduct National Aero-modelling Competition Finals in New Delhi

New Delhi, Delhi, India

Competition attracts participation from 215 teams comprising more than 670 engineering students from across the country

Encourages next generation of engineers to work for the success of India’s aerospace industry

Hundreds of young Indian engineers competed in the finals of the annual National Aero-modelling Competition organised by Boeing [NYSE: BA] in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT).

The 2016 competition at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, which provided a national platform for students to demonstrate their aero-modelling skills, was designed to encourage future engineering professionals towards aerospace careers.

“It is inspiring to see the momentum that our National Aero-modelling Competition has gained over the past three years,” said Pratyush Kumar, president, Boeing India. “This initiative has captured the hearts and minds of young engineers like never before, and will help develop talent that will shape the future of the Indian aerospace industry. We would like to thank the IITs for helping us to enable this competition where more than 670 young engineers participated this year.”

Launched in 2013, the Boeing-IIT Aero-modelling Competition is designed to enhance participation and interest in aviation activities, while it educates, recognises and rewards talented aerospace enthusiasts and innovators in India.

"We believe that technical events such as National Aeromodelling Competition greatly help in exciting our present generation of students about science, engineering and technology," said Dr. Anurag Sharma, Dean, Academics IIT Delhi. “Activities such as this align with IIT-Delhi's vision to promote design/practical experience among students through multiple curricular and co-curricular activities.”

Starting January 2016, the zonal competitions were organised in conjunction with the technical festivals at IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, IIT-Bombay and IIT-Kanpur and the final national competition was held at IIT-Delhi. A total of 13 winning zonal teams, made it to the national level in New Delhi. Along with the competition, Boeing also sponsored aero-modelling workshops conducted by the respective IITs. This was an additional platform where students interested in designing and building radio-controlled planes got real time experience in designing and building them.

Boeing has an ongoing partnership with IIT-Mumbai for the National Centre for Aerospace Innovation & Research (NCAIR) to promote aerospace manufacturing capability development.

Engineering, Research and Technology Collaboration with University Partners

Boeing has a long tradition of aerospace leadership and innovation and since 1995 has a research and development (R&D) presence in India, when collaborative research in aerodynamics was established with the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) in Bangalore. This has developed into a series of projects in aerodynamics and advanced analysis methods at NAL, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

In 2005, Boeing entered into a strategic research partnership with IISc Bangalore. The Boeing–IISc partnership focuses on research in materials and sciences for structural alloys, smart materials and structures, process modelling and simulation. This has contributed to aerospace innovation and advancement of aircraft design capabilities. IISc is one of only 10 universities worldwide that has such a special relationship with Boeing.

An evolved partnership, named the Aerospace Network Research Consortium (ANRC), was also set up with IISc involving other industry partners, HCL Technologies and Wipro. This consortium has conducted research and co-developed technologies related to wireless aerospace networks. This involved regular interaction between researchers in India and Boeing experts in the United States and has resulted in several doctorate theses and a number of research reports.

In 2009, Boeing further expanded its R&D footprint in India by establishing the Boeing Research & Technology India Center, an Indian counterpart of Boeing’s research and technology organization in the United States. The India facility conducts research in areas such as flight sciences, materials and processes, and structures and software with Indian research partners in academia, research laboratories and industry to address future technical challenges in aerospace.

Also based in Bangalore, and staffed with modelling and simulation engineers, the Boeing Strategic Development and Experimentation (SD&E) Center provides defense experimentation and decision-support services to understand the future needs of the Indian armed forces.

In collaboration with IIT Bombay and Department of Science and Technology, Boeing conceptualized the National Centre for Aerospace Innovation and Research (NCAIR) in 2009 to support world-class research and manufacturing development in aerospace, with the objective of applying this capability to the aerospace industry in India.

The work at NCAIR has led to 20 patents and technology breakthroughs, and more than 30 specialists have been trained and developed by the NCAIR. Key areas of research for NCAIR include modelling and simulation, where the researchers have generated new insights on methods to improve efficiency of machining titanium and aluminium alloys. Recently NCAIR inaugurated an Advanced Machining Excellence Cell on its campus.

Both NCAIR and ANRC have proven their worth in using technology to spur entrepreneurship and innovation in India’s aerospace industry to encourage its start-up culture.

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Multimedia Gallery

Pratyush Kumar, President, Boeing India with participants, judges and officials at the Boeing-IIT National Aero-modelling Competition finals at IIT-Delhi